1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer systems and computer software, and more particularly to configuring and verifying data sources in computer systems
2. Description of the Related Art
Enterprise computer systems may include many repositories for information that are accessed by one or more computers to which they are networked. One type of data resource may be relational databases as supplied by vendors such as Oracle, MicroSoft, IBM, Sybase, and others. Many other types of data resources may be included in a networked computer system such as object databases, XML files, Excel files, and web services. In order to access the information stored in a particular type of data resource, an application server within the networked system is typically configured with a driver that includes specific information about how to communicate with that particular data source.
Installation of a data resource driver may involve the entry of system/driver specific information to link various application extensions, utilities, and libraries. In addition to driver installation, a data source corresponding to the data resource may need to be configured on the application server. Procedures and specific information required for driver installation and data source configuration may be highly vendor specific, and in some cases even data resource specific. Each vendor may require the entry of values for a different set of data resource parameters, and may instruct the user in different methods for determining the appropriate values for their system.
Database vendors typically specify a set of configuration parameters that is unique to their own databases. Configuring a data source corresponding to a database often includes searching through a vendor's documentation to discover information regarding appropriate values for configuration parameters, followed by editing various configuration files to incorporate the parameter values. These procedures often result in a proprietary configuration that is specific to a vendor's database product. In some instances a vendor may include some type of utility to assist the user in configuring a specific database product, but again product specific and/or proprietary configurations are typically produced.
The process described above is typically repeated for each different vendor's databases, which are included in a networked computer system. In a system including database products from several vendors, the resultant configuration files may reflect the differences in the various vendors' approaches to specification of configuration parameters. This may add complexity to configuring an application server to make use of the configuration parameters for the different data sources. Once configuration has been accomplished, verification of the configuration normally includes deploying an application and attempting to execute transactions. When problems with the transactions arise, the solution frequently involves iterative adjustment of database configuration parameters and retesting. In large systems, each iteration of application deployment may have a significant impact on system and/or function availability.